0:07 Alright y'all, before we dive in, a quick heads up. This show is raw, real, and definitely not rated pg. We're talking about adult themes, sexual content, and the kind of stuff you probably don't want blasting through your speakers at work or around your kits. So grab some headphones, pour your drink of choice and get comfy. Oh, and just so we're clear, we are not licensed therapists, counselors, or sex. Couches. Sex coaches. Sex coaches, not sex couches or just a couple of people sharing our lives, experiences and sexy adventures.

0:47 An ethical non-monogamy. So with that, pull up a chair and enjoy the show. Hello and welcome to another episode of Beyond Monogamy. I'm Adam. And I'm we're hanging out with one of our absolute favorite people in the pleasure industry. The owner of Austin's legendary Forbidden Fruit. Oh, we love these guys. Forbidden Fruit has been keeping Austin sexy since the eighties, back when Keep Austin. Weird was more of a lifestyle than a slogan. Yeah, they're not just a store. They're a full blown movement, blending, body positivity, sexual education, empowerment, and community connection, and we're thrilled to be joined by the powerhouse behind it all.

1:29 Lynn Raridon on the Owner Forbidden Fruit, right here in Austin, Texas. Yeah, Lynn and her team have been longtime advocates for inclusive pleasure and healthy sexuality, and we're lucky enough to call them. Not just friends, but our sponsors. Yeah, that's right. On November 8th, beyond Monogamy will be live at Forbidden Fruit for a special in-store event and meet and greet. We'll be recording an episode, chatting with listeners, and maybe testing out a toy or two purely for research. Of course. Yeah. Yeah, sure. So come hang out with us, say hi, and help us celebrate a business that's been turning curiosity into confidence for over three decades. Yes, Lynn, thank you so much for being here.

2:09 We really appreciate it. Thanks for having me, y'all. I really appreciate any opportunity to get out there and spread the good work. Yes. I love that. Good word. Spread that good word. Spread that good word. All right, so we're gonna wanna know, tell everybody how did Forbidden Fruit first come to life? Okay. I wish I could, you know, take credit for it. A lot of people think, oh, just because I've, I've been there pretty much very close to the beginning. Mm-hmm. But, uh, I, I wish I could say it was my brainchild, but it wasn't. It was a friend of mine, a gentleman named, uh, mark Garfinkel. Mm-hmm. Who was a, uh, somebody that I knew from the punk rock world. We were punks. Yeah. Wow. In the right on late seventies. Yeah. And early eighties, like the CBGB kind of here in Austin.

2:50 Yeah. But here in Austin and Austin, we had places like Raul's and Duke's, Royal Coachin and the old university y Oh wow. Right there on the drag. Used to host punk shows up there and then new wave clubs like Clubfoot and stuff like that came in. But anyway I knew Mark through the scene, he was a saxophone player with a band called Sharon Tate's Baby. Pretty edgy. Yeah, right. So anyway, and I think another band anyway. And this is like, you know, 19, 80, 82 or something. And I was working at the Varsity Theater, which was the art house theater on the drag. And we were gonna show a sequel to the story of o called the Fruits of Passion.

3:31 And um, my manager, who is actually now the lead curator at the Harry Ransom Museum, Steve Wilson looks at me and he's like, Lynn, you know that guy Mark who owns Forbidden Fruit, right? And I'm like, yeah, I do. He is like, well, go down and see if he'll, you know, let us put up a poster and put some free tickets out. You know, we're just trying to get. People in the door. It was a very, you know, a super art house film. Uh, but anyway, I said, sure. So I got all cleaned up and went down there and popped in and saw Mark, and he was like, God, Lynn, what a great presentation. He is like, you need to come work for me. I'm like, okay. He's like, but unfortunately I don't have a spot for you in the store right now, but I'm starting this new concept here in Austin.

4:12 It's called the Home Party Sale. Where we pack up stuff, we pack up our merchandise and take it into women's homes. It's uh, it's like a, uh, a naughty fucker wear party instead of a Tupperware party. Right. Tupperware was still a thing back then, right? That's right. So I was like. Sure. Okay, I can do that. So next thing I know, then like a couple weeks he's calling me Lynn. I got a party, I went down to the store, I packed up, and at this point in time I packed up anything that I was gonna sell. So literally these poor woman, I come hauling in there with like three boxes, but I sold almost a thousand dollars worth of stuff. Wow. Yeah. It was, uh, like, and you've gotta remember this is like 19 81, 82, right? Mm-hmm. There are not a lot of. Sex positive.

4:54 It's all porn palaces. Right. So anybody of any, sexual orientation or uh, anything are gonna have to go in and look at the wall of porn and Yeah. And then get over to like the small smattering Yes. Of what, uh, we refer to as intimacy enhancing process. So what you gave was basically discretion. Yeah, because you were going into people's homes, we could go into the privacy of their homes. Mm-hmm. And we would let them come into the room one by one, and that their private, their friends didn't have to know I would package it all up in plain brown wrappers, take it back to the hostess. She distributed it to her friends, but he was just like, wow. So he was also a pioneer in that regard that. I don't know if they were doing it anywhere else in the country or not, but he started that whole premise of that home party sale, the Girls Night Inn, the passion parties.

5:41 Yeah. He started that and that's how I got my foot in the door in the business. And I think it was, yeah, it was 1982. Wow. No kidding. Yeah. And I re, I remember when I was younger, hearing about fun parties. Yeah. And that's what it was, the fun parties. Parties, yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And so we did the. Fun parties, but they were forbidden fruit home party sales. And we still, we'll offer that, but we tend to do more right now, and I digress here a little bit from the origin story, but we still do in home party sales. But now what people want is for us to do a version of like our workshops, like our, our favorite. Workshop and we'll bring toys and stuff. And so it's a little bit of like, we're gonna go over this topic, but it's obviously the Oris. The Fellatio 1 0 1. Yeah.

6:22 I don't know if you remember that movie. Old school? Yeah. Yeah. Andy Dick's character. That was, yeah, exactly. Yeah. Crouching Tiger. Hidden Penis. Yeah. And so we started actually doing those classes in 1995. Wow. Oh wow. Okay. So we've been like pioneering a lot of stuff. But again back to it. I started actually working in the store when I graduated from ut uh, in 1983. A position actually opened up in the store. And so, uh, after I'd taken a nice little jaunt around Europe for five weeks with my mom, uh, in September, I came back In November, I started working in the store. Wow. And then in, uh, so that's 1983 and then 85 Mark decides he's gonna go to U of H and get his law degree.

7:05 He's an East coast guy. Okay. Okay. So all of his family is, you know, he came down from New York. Yeah. So he was from, you know, the whole New York area. Mm-hmm. And his family was all East Coast. And he's like, I really want to get back to the East Coast. He's like, and this was great, but. What I really wanna do is practice law. Sure. And so he got his law degree. He graduated in uh, 19. Yeah. He graduated, uh, in, uh, yeah, may of 1987. And, uh, in June of that year, I took the store over. So in 1987 I bought it. Wow. Which was pretty scary for, uh, what, you know. Yeah. I was like 25, 26 years old and I suddenly went six figures into debt because he knew what the business was worth.

7:47 Yeah. But he helped me finance. Said so. No, it was brilliant and the first two years were fantastic. And then in 1989 we got busted. Really? Yes, we did. We got busted. Wow. Why, how bust? I mean, what does that mean, like for you? Okay, so back in 1972, there was, uh, laws on the book for selling obscene devices. So we got busted under the obscene device. Oh my gosh. Aspect of the law. Unfortunately, that law has been over. It's been not so much overturned. Ruled unenforceable. That's, but in 1980, that's crazy. Nine. We went and did, like, they were doing like a singles expo thing. Mm-hmm. Over at it's where the Palmer Auditorium is now, but it didn't look anything like that. But we went there for, or maybe it was like a bridal, it was some sort of an expo that we went there.

8:32 And unfortunately they set us next to a pretty religiously militant Amway saleswoman, and we were very careful about what we brought in. Mm-hmm. But at that point in time, the law was a community standard space law. So all it took is for one person to file a complaint. Mm-hmm. And this woman filed a complaint. Wow. She didn't like what we were selling. They kicked us out of the expo. They wouldn't refund our money, even though when they solicited us and said, this is what we've got, this is what we're gonna bring. We didn't bring anything that looked anatomically correct or anything like that. It was all, back then, it's like the comma suture lotions and oils. Yeah. And I think we had like one very small, innocuous looking vibrator that was just kind of, but oh boy, she just took it.

9:14 So next thing I know. And I happened to be out in Los Angeles when they busted us touring the Oh my goodness. Then one of the largest adult manufacturers. Oh, wow. Uh, I was touring the Doc Johnson plant and my then fiance at the time, I get back to where I'm staying. And he's like, you've gotta, call me, call me. It's like the Vice Squad came in and raided the store. Wow. And like when they, they left and they just left the door wide open and I'm like, get down there, get a key and just lock it. Mm-hmm. You know, leave it closed the rest of the day and then I'll call the staff, wow. And we got somebody in. That's wonderful. Yeah. So they busted us and I mean, there's nothing like going in front of the grand jury.

9:58 Yeah. So just suddenly. See, like, okay, so I literally just bought this business. I haven't even paid it off, and now I'm sitting here watching my potential. Wow. You know? That's heartbreaking. It's, it was very heartbreaking. Yeah. But they gave us a no bill. And basically I just couldn't even get a parking ticket for like the next two years, and then it was expunged from my record. Oh, that's good. But that's when we got. Really smart. Yes. Yeah. There's always a way to work around it. We learned, we had a great attorney and we sat down and we dug through that law and we looked at everything because back at that point in time, to an obscene device was designed to something that looked like the human genitalia and or its primary manufactured, promoted, or distributed intent was for stimulation of the human genitalia and it had to lack.

10:48 Artistic scientific or educational merit. So in order to sell dildos, we started selling educational models. And we were selling dildos. But if you wa and if you, there's a great movie out there, Barton and Wilder filmmakers uh, Judy and Laura came into the store one day to purchase, or they had heard, you know, you could purchase that item here, but there was. Some hoops you had to jump through, but literally we have got a case full of 'em, but above it, it says like, dildos with the, eh, through it. And they walked in, they're like, tell us about this. And I'm like, oh, well those are not dildos. Those are educational models for condom demonstration. Yes. And we've sold 'em to the state of Texas, the Department of Corrections.

11:29 We sold 'em to the University of Texas. We've sold 'em to the health's, uh, the department of, you know, health and Human Services mm-hmm. And here in Texas, and then Word also got out and we've sold them to colleges, universities, and other places all over the country who have educational departments where they need to teach people how to put a condom on. Wow. So I said, and you're actually gonna sign a release form that says that's how it was promoted. And sold to you. Wow. That way if anybody ever came back, I'm gonna be, I was gonna pull out like a box of them and go like, yep. Here it's, absolutely. Wow. And the other interesting thing was at that point in time, they had pulled a bunch of stuff and they pulled everything from inflatable dolls and, I mean, they pulled all sorts of stuff, but it was really like the dildos and anything that looked like a penis.

12:15 Yeah. And particularly if it vibrated, but they also pulled a bunch of butt stuff. But at that point in time, they gave us all that stuff back because they said, actually, you know, your anus is not part of your genitalia. Ah, yeah. So we were like, oh, win, so we could sell tush toys all day out the tush, out the wazoo, all, yeah. Wow. So anyway, yeah. So yeah, the ass was salvation. The ass was, yeah. Yeah. And a lot of, a lot of people think that. On the norms. Yeah, exactly. Well, and the interesting things happening on that front, but not, I'll go there. Yeah, it's uh, yeah. But, um, anyway, and also we didn't sell any vibrators.

12:56 We sold personal massagers, and actually back then manufacturers were putting little stickers on 'em. And if they didn't have the sticker or the language actually on the package, we bought them and put 'em on there. But it said warning. Do not use on swollen, inflamed areas, lesions, or any unexplained calf pain. Why the most common place to get a blood clot? Is in your calf. Wow. And so, and these are bonafide massage devices when they literally, first came out, like the mail order companies and stuff like that's how they, you would see a picture of like a woman holding it up. Yeah. Neck. It's a neck massager. And we were like, yep. That's what we're selling. Wow. We're selling massage. People would come in and be like I'm looking for a vibrator.

13:39 I don't sell those, but I've got this amazing selection of neck massages, of personal massagers. And some of them are ideal for spot specific. There you go. Do you wanna pinpoint that massage? That is amazing. You've seen it. You've seen it. We've seen it all. We all you've seen it. We've seen just kind of the way everything has. Transitioned and um, yeah. And Austin has changed a lot. Austin's changed a lot too, and as far as we've come, it's just heartbreaking to see all of the step back. Yeah. You know, for sure. That's happening now. Yeah. And that people, and when I say, and when I think of queer people, I'm not talking about just gay people. I'm talking about queer people on, there's a large spectrum of queer.

14:22 Mm-hmm. Yeah. Which also encompasses anybody who does anything that's considered outside the norm. Mm-hmm. Of traditional missionary sex. Yeah. Between a hetero male and a hetero female. Yeah. That alternative gray area. Mm-hmm. Gray. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. No, it, yeah, we, we definitely feel it, uh, encompassing at times. I mean, yeah, just being in the non-monogamous lifestyle it's crazy. And as far as as, as starting out in the eighties and navigating through the eighties, the nineties. The two thousands and where we're at here and now, how has Forbidden Fruit adapted to the changes every time that, I mean, obviously you're seeing how things change.

15:03 Oh yeah, absolutely. And we do and we continue to. Um, it for us, it's always been about exploring every, you know, possible avenue out there and encompassing anything and trying to de-stigmatize and create a positive, safe space. So we were Yes, uh, exactly. We started like the home party sales. We wanted to create a safe space wherever it was for anybody. And then as times changed, it wasn't just women, it was, I mean. We did it for everything from swingers groups would get us. I will tell you something interesting though, those swingers groups, they didn't spend any money really. I don't know what it was, but I don't know. It was just kinda like they, I don't know.

15:44 And that was more like the nineties. But anyway. No, they still don't but we still don't, but Well, and people also. Yeah. You know, swinging is just one aspect of non-monogamy, right? Yeah. I mean, so people, anytime I, mention something like, open marriage, they're like, oh, swingers. I'm like no, no. There's a big umbrella. No, there's a huge, that's really just, that's a branch off the tree. Yeah. That's like saying you're into BDSM and, and, uh oh. So that's just making well. Okay. Yes, but there's more, uh, there's so much more. Yeah. It's an ocean. How far do you wanna wade in? Yes. You know what I mean? Yes. So, um, anyway, so it's always just been like trying to keep a finger on the pulse of what's happening out there, not only in terms of what's happening legally, because like legally we got to breathe a big sigh of relief.

16:34 February the 13th, 2008, there had been a lawsuit working its way through the courts and it was here in Texas, and that's when the obscene device law basically became unenforceable. Mm. So we went from, you know, because after you've been busted every day, I opened up my door. I was like, is today the day? Somebody else gonna, ugh. Yeah. Have to pay PTSD ts on that. Yeah. Well we had to pay close attention. Like, the original Forbidden Fruit was right off the corner of Sixth and Neches. Mm-hmm. At five 12 Neches. And I actually purchased a building right on sixth Street, and the city wouldn't give me a variance to literally move like 75 feet around the corner because I was grandfathered into that location.

17:15 Mm. So that actually gave us an opportunity to. Expand again. We were some of the first people to actually bring piercing into Austin. We started doing piercing clinics, bringing in professional piercers from around the country. People like Karen Hurt and Elaine Benny, and anybody who knows anybody. These are like old school master piercers. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. So we started doing piercing clinics in the nineties and we would like rent a you know, a condo or a hotel room or something, a place where we could, you know, bring people in, set up appointments, create a sterile environment and stuff. So when the city wouldn't gimme my variance in 95, I opened up a tattoo and piercing salon.

17:56 We called it the Body Art Salon. Wow. So, yeah. And then it was there. We, I had a, a professional dom come to me that I knew in the community and was like, ha, have you ever thought about teaching classes? And I'm like, well, I would love that because. I was adjunct faculty at Austin Community College for 25 years. Wow. Wow. Wow. Education is a huge part of my background, and I was all about like forbidden fruit needs to be more than just a, we're not just a retail store. We need to be a community resource for all kinds of information. So anything that you wanna. Know about anything, we're gonna help you get that information. For sure. You know, so when she came to me, so we started teaching classes out of the body art salon and uh, the very first one was of course, 'cause she's a pro dom.

18:44 It was discovering your dominance. Wow. That's so, and then we added submitting to submission, and then old school came and we're like, oh, well we gotta, now we gotta do the, the 1 0 1, we gotta do the blow job class for sure. You know, so, and we actually brought in professional, Asex certified instructors and people like to teach those classes. And then in 96 we opened up a space we actually had a store out in Vegas for two years. Ooh. Oh wow. Yeah. From Texas to Vegas. Well, we did because I had some really good clients out there Yeah. Who were like, oh, you need to come out there. What they didn't tell me is that a lot of people don't realize, but Vegas is still very much a Mormon stronghold.

19:25 Oh. So I've heard this before. If you don't open up in Vegas proper, and we actually, they. Found us and we thought it was a fantastic place. And in fact, it was next to one of the top hair salons that also had like a body spa and stuff in there. And I'm like, oh, well this is great because there are tons of people that are our clientele, coming in here. And within three or four months we were already like breaking even. Because yeah, just the proximity to this top salon, people come and go like, oh wow, well I need a piece of lingerie. I need a. Right. I got a bachelor, you know? Yeah. Whatever. So it was great, but unfortunately somebody must have filed a complaint again, again. And next thing I know, zoning is swooping and saying, you can't sell this here.

20:08 So literally I had to buy myself outta my lease. And after a year, I. Like, but we started doing Bardy piercing up there too. Oh, wow. In 19, we found a piercer up there. I thought anything I can do to supplement, but it just got to be too much. Yeah. But yeah, we're all about pioneering concepts. Yeah. Yeah. So just constantly trying to adapt. Mm-hmm. As the times go through anything that we see potentially that's happening out there, we really try and keep a finger on what's happening in just. Sex positive Yeah. Community. Mm-hmm. At, you know, at large. And yeah, so it, so like, you know, the workshops, we still do those today.

20:50 Mm-hmm. And as a matter of fact we have plans to get Johnny on, uh, uh, the show. Great. Uh, and he's gonna be discussing some of the the topics and Yeah. The topics that, that you guys, uh, go over and that sort of thing. And I think that's gonna be. Incredible. We, we actually want to take up on, on some of those Yes. Learn more about Yeah, definitely. I, I, I actually visited your store. That was the first place I ever got a toy from. Thank you. Ever. And that was back in 98. Yeah. Yeah. Long time ago. Yeah. A long time ago. Now, there is a, a preferred company that, that you guys have for toys. Uh, I believe we, uh.

21:30 Got a couple of mm-hmm. Uh, from that local, remind me of the name. It's local. So we actually just discovered this. They're new distributors, so we have to be really upfront about it. They, obviously, the toys are being manufactured. Mm-hmm. Somewhere else, but we're all about supporting, hometown team, Texas based. Um, suppliers and organizations and stuff like that. So we actually, uh, went to the Altitude Show up in Vegas back in March, and we found a local company called Pure Envy. So we're really pleased to be carrying the Pure Envy brand. I love that. I'm excited that, yeah. You know, that's, that's actually, uh, we, we. Looked through everything they had, they had some really amazing products. Yeah. Uh, I'm curious, when you were going through and, and scoping 'em out, what was it about them that just seemed right to you?

22:15 Well, first of all, what was right was that they were carrying and, and you've gotta understand, it's really, you know, also keeping up with like, there are innovations coming down the pike, you know? Right. All the time. And so more than anything, it was just that they were carrying the top styles. You know, of toys. There were a couple of things that were a little bit, different or tweaked, but we just loved the fact that it was a quality product that we could get right here in Austin and support a local supplier. That's awesome. Yeah, I love that. And, and, you know. I will say I've, I've been asked before because of where our podcast is at. Why don't we go for a larger big box kind of sponsor? That's not really our thing.

22:56 Mm-hmm. Um, we are rooted in the community. Mm-hmm. We love the community. We do this for the community. Uh, it only seemed right that we, we choose a sponsor that is rooted in the community. Yeah. And really pushes for community and, and we love everything you guys stand for. I, you know, I appreciate that. We like to tell people when they come in because, and, and you know, this still happens with everybody. There's this concept known as, you know, showrooming. We will have people that will come in and showroom us. They're coming in hoping that they'll actually see the physical product. And then they'll go and. Buy it somewhere else online. Mm-hmm. So here's why you don't wanna do that. First of all, you wanna make sure that there's still places like uh, us around that you can actually go and physically pick up and see see the toy.

23:36 Okay. And you're supporting a small, local family, iconic business. Yes. So please keep us alive. But the other side of the coin is a lot of manufacturers now. Want you to buy it from a bricks and mortar because the e-commerce universe is so vast out there. There are people counterfeiting toys, there are people because so many of them are made in, you know, overseas mm-hmm. And in China. Mm-hmm. And a lot of times those factories, well, we have people from China reach out to us all the time. Oh, I see you carry these toys, we can get you a better deal. And I'm thinking. So you probably are getting the orders mm-hmm. Seeing what's really popular. Mm-hmm. And now you're just making them and pulling some aside for yourself.

24:19 Yeah. So point being is. There's no warranty on those products. That's right. So if you come and get it from us, that's what the manufacturer wants. They want you to buy it from a certified dealer. And that's us. Uh, we've got a supplier that we've been doing business with a long time. The magic wand manufacturers. Oh yeah. It used to be Hitachi. They've taken Hitachi off of it. Um, and they tell us all the time they've got a warehouse full of fake. Magic wands. Mm. People because people even come to us and they're going like, oh my God, it's like $120. I can get it online for 50. And I'm like, and it's not a magic wand. Yeah. Well, it sure looks like it. Sure says, I'm like you go for that. Yeah. You go, you'll, you'll learn. You'll learn. You can learn. Oh, I learned really quick.

25:00 I got a rose. Yeah. That was not, that was not a rose, not a rose. And it was just, it was horrible. Yeah. So it's so much better if you can actually come in, see, and again, we refer to ourselves as the sex experts, right? Mm-hmm. Because we can actually tell you the difference between if we've got. Three different toys that look very similar. We're gonna be able to put 'em in your hands. You're gonna be able to tell the difference. And it may be something as simple as, well, this one actually still takes batteries, whereas this one's rechargeable. Or this one has an app, you know, you can use on your phone. Yeah, sure. But then even getting into stuff where people do need, more help in terms of like lubes, I mean the, the land of lube is vast.

25:42 Mm-hmm. And extensive, you know, and, and lube has changed. So much over the years. Yeah. Back in the day, you know, it started out with good old just, you know, ky, which is great, and KY is still manufacturing. Do we carry them? No, because you can get that at HEB, right? You can get that at Walgreens. You get that? Mm-hmm. And also, no offense, but that was a lube that was manufactured for the medical market. So it was designed to basically just be able to, you know, use with, speculums and rectal exam, you know what I mean? Like sonograms and stuff. Yeah. Sonograms. Well, yeah. And even they used something completely different now. Yeah. You know, with that, uh, you know, that type of gel and stuff. And so, um, so we carried the stuff that is literally manufactured by and specifically for the intimacy enhancement market.

26:27 Nice. That's good to know. We feel really good about the quality of it. And that's who we wanna support. We wanna support those people who are in there really, you know, trying to gain traction and get a product out there that is specific to intimacy enhancement use with toys, things like that. I mean, don't get me wrong, the other cool thing is so many new loops have come out, like Silicone Loop. When it first came out, people were like, oh, I got silicone. You know, it's like, no, no, no. It just sits right on top of your skin. Mm-hmm. You're eventually gonna, you know, slough it off. But it's super hypoallergenic. It's non-porous, which means it's bacteria static, which means it won't kill bacteria, but because bacteria can't get its hooks in it, it will not survive.

27:08 But you don't wanna use it. With silicone toy because on a molecular level it tries to bond with itself. No kidding, kidding. So it's just gonna make the toilet greasy over time. Oh wow. Even if you can see if you clean it pretty quickly you're probably gonna be okay. And but we're gonna steer you in the direction, uh, if you're gonna get a silicone toy with like a water based mm-hmm. Or maybe a super high grade hybrid that's got just a little bit of. You know, silicone in it. Mm-hmm. As long as you're one of those people that does, you know, fastidiously clean your toys pretty quickly. Yeah. After using this isn't, yeah. Well, you know, and Pris has always been very, um, sensitive. She's overly sensitive to Yeah. To certain materials. My body's just dramatic.

27:48 Yeah. And I have a dramatic body. We had to learn the hard way initially. Yeah. A long time ago. Yeah. Ordering toys online from unverified. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, vendors. I had a massive rash and it didn't go away for. Yeah, it was an issue. Yeah. And that's another thing. If you come in, we've got like a whole array of lube samples. You're gonna be able to take those. And we always tell people, test them initially on your forearm. This is a more sensitive area of skin, so it's gonna tell you two things. It's gonna tell you, am I gonna have a reaction to it? But also, I dunno if you're ever played that game, you know, like close your eyes and mm-hmm. This skin does have more nerve endings in it. It is more sensitive. So it might also give you an idea how it's gonna respond to other.

28:29 Sensitive areas of skin. Duly noted. So it's a, and now they have Edible loops. Now they, oh, we have edible loops. Yeah. Yeah. So people come in. Actually, I can't believe it. And we do still carry it occasionally. Not a lot, but I actually had somebody come in looking for edible underwear and I was like, okay, so are we just looking for the shock, the fun, the ha ha ha ha. Edible underwear. I said Art. Do you think you or whoever this is for is actually gonna use it? They're like, well, no, we thinking we're gonna use it. I'm like, okay. Then you definitely do not want that. What you want is a flavored, edible lube. There are lots of topicals out there, the edible massage oils and stuff, but those are not for internal use. You wanna keep those away from the private parts just because they've got a modicum of sugar in 'em, which can be mm-hmm.

29:13 Oh wow. Okay. That, the enemy, right? Sure. In certain sensitive areas. Okay. Yeah. But the flavored lubes are they're ingredients and they're manufactured in a way to where you can use it as a loop. You can use it as an oral enhancer. You can use it to flavor a condom. You can use, you know, for safe sex practices. So, yeah. Just Yeah. That is, that's the direction we steer people in. Yeah. Yeah. Well, for something like that, well, you, if we ever have to get on another pandemic lockdown, I guess I being in your shop would be good, you know? Yeah. With all the edible loops. We'll go through the snacks real fast. Fast. That's right. Exactly. Now, I, I do wanna turn towards the, um, the non-monogamous community. I know that Sure. Yeah. Being in the field that you're in mm-hmm.

29:55 You've had a lot of, of, uh. Touching up on so to speak. Uh, a lot of people come to you and ask you about that sort of thing. And so you've seen people come and go throughout the years. How would you say you've seen the non-monogamous community or the sw even the swinger community expand? I, I, we've seen it expand exponentially. There are a lot of people out there who, they, I don't wanna say, it's not about like, you know, unlimited options, but they just, they still want that. Yeah. Uh, caring, loving, but they want to, broaden the scope of it. So the first thing we've seen happen is just the fact that people realize that it's a big umbrella and swinging and, open.

30:41 An open relationship, not necessarily, they're not the same thing. Yeah, right. It's a big spectrum. It's a big spectrum, and so that's the first thing we've seen is more and more people coming in realize they're like, oh, okay. Well, so there's, okay, got it. Because there are a lot of people in the non-monogamous community who. They don't wanna swing. They're not Yeah. They're not gonna do that. Right. And there are some who are like, yeah. That may be a component that they've mutually discussed and agreed upon. Right. You know, that they're gonna add that component, to the open relationship. So really that's what we've seen is just kind of a broadening of like, people understanding that it is a much broader umbrella. Mm-hmm. And it's not, mutually exclusive.

31:23 Yeah. And so, and, and. We have always prided ourself on being a safe space, a welcome space. So if people come in, we try and have resources, for them. And a lot of times it's um, well, now we know we've got your resource, you know, your podcast. Because in the past we've had people go like, where do I, how do I even. Learn about this. How do I start, how do I even approach this conversation with my partner? Right. You know? Right. And you know, initially it was like, well, we can point you towards some good books. Yeah. Right. Yeah. And those are really the only, the only books we carry are basically on, they're informational, they're educational, they're, I think that's what I like about your story.

32:07 Yeah. There's not, it's not only the toys or the, you know, to get intimate, fun, fun aspect of it. Yeah. It's, um. It's a lot of information in there. You have books you have people that can actually talk about everything. Yeah. Every, every time we walk into your shop. Yeah. We are riddled with so much information about and your employees are so knowledgeable. Yeah. Yeah. And they, I mean, they're really sex experts. Yeah. Like, they know what they're talking about. And I was really impressed with that because. We've been into some of the big, the big box stores. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And a lot of times you have somebody working there who. They're just there to collect a paycheck. Like this is not something that they're passionate about.

32:48 Yeah. You know, it's, they're just there. They wanna ward out the creeps and that sort of thing, and they, it's like, just, uh, here, gimme the money. Here's your stuff. See you later. You know, there's not a whole lot of knowledge there. But going into your shop, gosh, I learned something new every single time. I too, that makes me feel good. And, and the staff really, and the thing is like everybody, you know, at the store right now has been with us? No, le actually we do have one employee and she's been with us almost like, two years. Wow. But that's like, wow. The lowest, you know, it's like the rest of us is like, you know, six, seven years, 15 years. And then of course, my sister and I, my co-owner. Mm-hmm. Um, you know, I've been there since practically the beginning. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, yeah.

33:29 No, thank you. That's very, it's very family oriented and we're very when we hire, we hire looking for people. I mean, we understand that for a lot of people it may be, it's just gonna be maybe just a part-time job. Mm-hmm. But we know there's still people out there who even with a part-time job, they still have a passion Yeah. For this product. And they feel like I'm not just in here. Sling a paycheck, selling, you know, whatever. I feel like I am actually contributing something. Yeah, yeah. Really. And they really are. I really, really helpful. Yeah. I went in and I was like, oh wow, what is this and what is that? Yeah. And, and every product that we inquired about was taken out of the box. We were able to look at it and I. It was really, really a neat experience.

34:12 And really going into your shop is an experience. It is. Thank you. Um, now it is you do have a website? We do. Uh, where you all sell. Do you sell what's in the store on the website? Well, we can't obviously sell absolutely everything. Mm-hmm. That's, um, in the store. But we do have, uh, a website. If you go to forbidden fruit.com and then go to the shop page, it'll take you there. And we are constantly trying to, because we don't have a separate inventory for e-comm. We sell what's on our shelves. Sure. So we're co, we're constantly trying to update when we get stuff in, but then when we sell stuff, we need to make sure it gets taken off the website. Every now and then there can be a little lag, but we also let people know, like, we're gonna get this out to you Absolutely. As quickly as we can, but you know, there may be like, it may take a week or so.

34:55 Yeah, yeah. Well, I mean us to get it back in. But yes, we out, we absolutely sell. And what we predominantly sell are the toys. Mm-hmm. The dildos, uh, the lubes and a lot of the BDSM stuff. That's awesome. Yeah. And, and, you know, for the kink community because, uh, I do know, I know very little about it. Mm-hmm. But I do know they, they have some really cool toys. You have a shelf there? Yeah. Or like a, a wall of just like, there's like blogs and uh, and I think they're locally made. We do, we really, um. We love local, we love supporting local. We've been huge proponents of that movement. Austin used to have an organization called the Austin Independent Business Alliance. Mm-hmm. And that's what they were all about, was like live, love shop, local.

35:36 Um, unfortunately they've kind of gone away, but they've morphed into like a larger, I think there's the local business institute now. Mm-hmm. Uh, but that's the whole thing and that's why we're local and we do everything we can to support local. So we welcome. Um, local kinky crafters all the time, and we're carrying no less than like, three or four different crafters Yeah. At any different time. And it's everything from floggers leather Yeah. To to paddles and um, cups and colors and Yeah. That's, and so whatever we can get our hands on that's made locally, we love supporting. Oh, you even had like lingerie. We, okay, so one of the suppliers that we carry is Shame lingerie, and they're outta Dallas, Texas.

36:17 Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah. I saw that on the side. I was like, Ooh, I need to get this. Oh, we were all over your store. Yeah, we were all over it. I want everything. We love that. We're like, just little flies just flying all over the place. Very good. Uh, you know, but as, as far as, uh, stuff that you don't carry in your shop, do you have the ability to. Refer them out if anybody has any questions. Like I, I, I don't know if you guys can, I don't know what this thing is called. Okay. But I just refer to it as a fuck machine. Okay. Yeah. Um, but I think, I mean, just that name alone, I think everybody knows it's a little thing with that. It's, I've seen it in a briefcase form. Oh, it's in a briefcase. And so here's the thing, and we do have people.

37:00 Forbidden fruit. We've always, so a couple of things. Everybody also needs to be aware of, even though the, obscenity statute for products has been deemed unenforceable, we still have to abide by zoning codes. So for us to be in the location where we're at, where we're surrounded by, you know, a neighborhood mm-hmm. Less than 35% of our inventory has to be, it 35% or less sexually anything considered sexually oriented. Oh, wow. Okay. Oh, wow. So, and even though the law's been deemed unenforceable, somebody could still potentially come in and complain about us. Mm-hmm. Which maybe wouldn't trigger a, uh, a criminal lawsuit, but it could get, uh, raise the, ire of zoning.

37:46 She'd be like you can't sell that here. It's like, what? It's 35. We don't wanna do anything. Mm-hmm. And because we're a boutique and and there's certainly. Nothing wrong. We do. We refer people out who sure do reply about it. It's just a little bit more than we want on our shelf right now. Right. We're about making everybody as comfortable as possible. Yeah, that makes sense. Which is why if you come in and look at all of our packaging, you're not going to see pictures of people on their. Looking like they're having an organ. Yeah. That's not gonna be on, no. Yeah. Okay. We're not gonna do, we just don't want anything like that. But we absolutely do refer out. We'll tell people. The first thing we prefer to do is refer to our fellow local businesses.

38:30 Okay. So. We always send people, like if we don't have it, yeah. Here's who else you can go to. Go try them. So if you came into me today, I would be like, go check out Dreamers. 'cause they're local, right? Yeah. Even though they're a big store. Mm-hmm. But they're still local. Mm-hmm. Yeah. You know, so go there and support somebody local before you send your dollars, you know? Elsewhere. Elsewhere. Right. You know, right. Outstate. Yeah. We, we have a, uh, we have a lot of people that listen to us outside of our community mm-hmm. Outside of the state. And we've actually been told by, uh, a few people outside of the state that they would be going to your website to order some stuff. I love that. Uh, yeah. Yes, please. That's always, uh, that's always nice to have people be able to support, you know something.

39:14 Oh, for sure, for sure. And we also do curbside pickup. No, you can also, and of course, yes. That was, you know, there are you, you've gotta take the lemonade where you can get it from the lemons of the pandemic. Yeah. And curbside pickup. Wow. What a, what a. What a concept. So easy. What a concept. Pull up what a, they'll come out, you know? Yeah. Just, yeah. Show me your order on the phone. Here's your, we're good. Here's your, you don't even have to come in the store. I love that. Yeah. Yeah. You don't even have to bring your own vehicle. You can bring somebody else's vehicle. Yeah. Well, we do have some events coming up. Yeah, absolutely. We do. And, and so we, were actually, uh, we've been telling a lot of people around it. The November 8th.

39:54 We're so excited because we're so excited to have you there in the store, and we hope to have some other fun stuff going on. One of the other things we've pivoted to in the community is we are a local art gallery for, um. Erotic art. Yes. I love, so there's always erotic art. Mm-hmm. Really cool pieces. Pieces for up all over on your walls. On our walls. You can always we thought we were gonna get a, a new show up for, but our curator Ricardo actually has his own show that he's got to go and curate. And I said, you know what? We're good. We've got so much good. Yeah. You know, art up here, it's like, we're gonna have Adam and Per, we're gonna have plenty going on. You're gonna have plenty. We have invited so many people, so we have, yeah. So luckily we are, we are, um.

40:35 We created the event on our, uh, social medias. Mm-hmm. Fantastic. Yeah, and people know about it. We're gonna have some people out there. Now. If, if you could let me know, I wanna make sure I didn't screw this up. What is the time for this? Okay, well, so we don't open until noon. But here's the thing, and this is, another thing I just love about the area that we're in, if you've never been to the area or if you have it, is one of the last bastions of the true Austin, locally owned Independences. So it's, it's us room service across the street, also going, 40 something years. Mm-hmm. Um, it used to be, you know, I love video. It's now we love video. Oh yeah. And we've got, you know, several vintage stores that have been there and been in town for a long time. We've got an anarchist bookstore.

41:17 We've got. There's gonna be more than just us. So come, definitely come and see us spend some time, but please go around and check out all of the other Cool. Yeah. Locally owned businesses that are gonna have stuff and, you know, putting it out there on the street, but definitely come in and check out what we're doing. Um, in addition to Adam and Pris, uh, being there, we also, so we go from like noon to seven, those are our hours. But room service opens up at like 10. Nice. I don't know if they're gonna be doing like a big sidewalk sale, but definitely I would say if you come by noon, but just plan on, you know, hanging out with us, coming and hanging out with us and walking around and checking it out. So many people come in and go like, wow, I never even knew this neighborhood.

41:58 Yeah, just here. And it's just so cool and it's fun and, and it's, and that's just one event. Fantastic. But you also have like in store, like little shops you said? Or like, um, well, we classes, we are doing our next workshop Okay. Is going to be, uh, the weekend of October the 19th. Oh. Coming up. It'll be with sex Expert Johnny. And it's BDSM Basics. It's BDSM 1 0 1. Okay. So it's basically learning the ins, ins and outs of like, what, first of all, what is it? Again, how do I, if I'm curious, how do I get my partner, how do I even. Start a conversation to see if I, you know, get my partner or maybe we're both interested. Yeah. So we just need to know how do we start, what are these toys? What do I even, so it's all about understanding that entire spectrum of what that encompasses and, um, and then what the different toy options and stuff like that are and how to.

42:47 Keep it safe, sane, and consensual, y'all. Oh, I love that. Um, and I do wanna throw one more thing out there. One of the other communities that we've pivoted into, uh, this was back in 2000. Two, 2002 or 2003. We are huge proponents and the lead sponsor, and I'm one of the co-directors of the Texas Burlesque Festival. Oh. So we love burlesque. We support burlesque. Good thing. Yeah, we, yeah. So if you haven't, we like to tell people this is the most fun you can have with your clothes on while the performers are taking theirs off for you. I have never been tolis though. Oh, my word. Press, come on. Never. It's, it's getting put on the list now. How gonna do?

43:27 Absolutely. I mean, and I like to tell people, you cannot toss a stiletto in this town without hitting a burlesque performer. That is tough. We have so many amazing troops and individual performers. We've got a calendar, the Austin Burlesque Alliance. We've got a local community group. The, uh, austin burlesque.com is the calendar. You can go there and see what burlesque shows. And then even beyond burlesque, there are shows that have burlesque, but maybe it's also with like aerials and poles. Wow. And maybe it's got some drag and it's just so we are all about supporting. All of those communities, we, there's a, a, um, a studio here in town called Brass Ovaries.

44:12 Yeah, I've seen the first place. I've seen brass ovaries did their classes. Inside Forbidden Fruit. Oh wow. Nice. We hosted their classes. That is cool. That is every Wednesday. Yeah. That's Miss Natasha. And they would, and we would, they would bring in, like, we would clear everything in that front room out. They would set up two poles. They were, I mean, it's like, so again, we just constantly keep our finger on the pulse and anything out there that we feel like. Is, sex positive, body positivity, anything like that, we are all about it. So if you know something we're not aware of, let us know for sure. Yeah. And you know, everything that you've listed, we're gonna have the links in our show notes so that everybody can, uh, look them up and Yeah.

44:55 You know, even if you are not in the area, if you end up in the area. Yeah, around those times. Mm-hmm. You know exactly what to expect. Now I will say, going back to the November 8th thing, uh, we're gonna be out there by 11 'cause we wanna scope everything out. Yes. We will be inside the shop when you guys open at noon, which is very cool because we are going to do a show from your, uh, from your shop and a couple of lives. Yeah. We're gonna do some. Love it. We're gonna do some lives. So everybody out there listening November 8th from 12 till whenever You feel like whenever. Yeah. But we will definitely be out there. We're thinking 12 to three. We may stay longer than that. Yeah. Uh, but I think we're gonna have a great time and we're really looking forward to having a lot of people there.

45:39 Now, before we wrap up I love the fact that you've built your career off of the confidence and communication and consent. What message do you want every customer to leave with? Embrace your sexuality. It is your own. Don't let anybody ever make you feel bad for anything that you wanna do that brings you joy, brings you happiness, a greater sense of self and self-fulfillment. I love that. Yeah. I love that, Lynn. Well, thank you so much for joining us. Today. Thanks for having me. And I so look forward to seeing yall know. Oh man, it's, we're have a blast. We're gonna have an amazing time, guys.

46:19 Especially. Especially, it's gonna be fun, especially with these wonderful people that are forbidden fruit. You guys don't miss it. Yeah, do not miss it. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. So thank you Lynn, again for coming and joining us today and for everything you've done to keep Austin open-minded, we appreciate that. The confident and the OhSo. Positive. That's right. And if you're anywhere near Austin, you have to visit Forbidden Fruit. Mm-hmm. It's not just an adult store. It's a welcoming community for anyone ready to explore. Learn and have fun doing it. And you never know. You might run into us at the same time. Yes. And remember, beyond Monogamy will be there Friday, November 8th, recording live and meeting listeners. Come say hi, grab a toy and celebrate with us. Yes, so be sure and check out forbidden fruit.com.

47:02 Like I said, we'll have it in our show notes for details on the event, workshops and their incredible products. And you can head to www.beyondmonogamy.com for our latest episodes, blogs. Event info, merch, you name it, it's all there. Follow our, uh, social medias as well because we keep all of that information yes. On our socials. And you can catch Beyond Monogamy every Thursday at one and 6:00 PM Central on Full Swap Radio and stream us anywhere you get your podcasts. Absolutely, and like I said, for updates behind the scenes fun. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok X, Reddit, we have our own, uh, little Discord.

47:45 Community. Uh, so you name it. We are there. You should be there too. Lynn, thank you so much for being a powerful voice of pleasure, education, and inclusivity, and for being one of the best humans in the business. Oh, I love having you around personally. So we will definitely see you on November 8th at Forbidden Fruit. We will see you guys at November 8th at Forbidden Fruit as well. So be ready to come and learn. Laugh and maybe blush a little bit. Yeah, you're definitely gonna blush a little bit. Yeah, for sure. Uh, as always, thanks for listening and we will see you guys next week. Bye.